


Planet Earth Turns Slowly (Knock Three Times)

by ShowMeAHero



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Airplanes, Airports, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Making Out, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 08:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12503264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: Finn's first day as a flight attendant with Alliance Airlines starts normal, until he runs into the pilot he's going to be working with. The very handsome pilot. The very nice pilot. One hell of a pilot, who Finn can't get enough of. When their plane goes down in Tucson, they have to make the best of a bad situation.





	Planet Earth Turns Slowly (Knock Three Times)

**Author's Note:**

> Cheyenne DEMANDED this of me. I, of course, will do anything for her.
> 
> Title pulled from "[Fireflies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psuRGfAaju4)" by Owl City.

“Are you  _ sure _ this is a good fit for me?” Finn asked, likely for the millionth time. Rey just smiled, lifting Finn’s suitcase out of the trunk of their car for him.

“Finn, even if it wasn’t, it’s a little too late,” she pointed out, motioning to their airport not too far from where they stood. “You’re going to be fine. Anything’s better than Empire.”

Empire, the airline Finn had worked for until just a few weeks previous, had been an absolute disaster. Finn had hated every second of it, and honestly didn’t even mind when he got fired. He privately thought they were probably going to go bankrupt soon anyways.

“You’re right,” Finn said. Rey pulled up her own suitcase and slammed the trunk shut. She looked comfortable and confident in her uniform; Finn still felt strange in his. It was still too  _ new,  _ he thought. “And at least I get to work with you.”

“It’s the little things in life.” Rey snapped up the handle on her suitcase and started heading in for the airport. Once Finn had been let go from Empire, Rey had somehow immediately found him a position with Alliance, the airline she had been working at for a little while now. “Oh, hey, look, there’s Jess!”

“What?” Finn said, but Rey was already taking off at a sprint with her suitcase, leaving Finn standing there, surprised. Rey caught a somewhat-familiar woman (Jessika Pava, a friend of Rey’s and often the co-pilot on her flights) by the arm as they were about to enter the airport, and they both exclaimed excitedly at one another, too far away for Finn to hear. In his trance, he almost didn’t hear someone calling to him to watch out. Finn turned at the last moment - just in time to get knocked down by a dog.

“Sorry about that!” the man - presumably the owner of the dog - called to him, as Finn caught the dog by the collar and stood. The dog wasn’t even that big - just a little orange-and-white thing, probably a corgi, if Finn was right about it.

The man finally caught up with his dog, breathless, rolling up the sleeves of his jacket. He grinned at Finn, and the whole world seemed to slot into place. Finn thanked whoever was listening for small blessings, since Rey wasn’t there to watch him act like an idiot in front of a stranger.

“Sorry about that,” the guy repeated, reaching out to scratch the dog behind the ears. “She’s a runner.”

“Oh, uhh.” Finn stared at the guy, then down at the dog. “Yeah. Good dog.”

The guy laughed. “Yeah, she’s a great dog. Just a fast one.” He reached out and took the dog from Finn, smoothing her fur down. She seemed content to get passed around, now that her game was over. The guy motioned to Finn’s uniform. “You a flight attendant?”

“Yeah,” Finn said. He was caught between shocked silence and pouring out his own life story blended with endless compliments. The guy smiled again, all white teeth and wavy brown hair and exuding an aura of sheer contentedness. “Yeah, I’m new. Starting today.”

“That’s great, pal!” the guy exclaimed. He shifted his dog to one arm to clap Finn on the shoulder. “I’m Poe. I hope I see you around?”

“I’m Finn,” Finn said. The place where Poe had touched him felt hot, and he still hadn’t let go. “Yeah, hopefully. You come here often?”

The guy snorted, and Finn felt his face immediately heat up.

“Uhh-”

“No, I know what you meant,” Poe said. “I do, actually.”

“Why do you-” Finn started to say, before the dog took advantage of their proximity and stretched out to lick Finn’s face from his chin to his hairline.

“Oh, BB,  _ no,”  _ Poe admonished. He looked to Finn apologetically. “You’re not allergic to dogs, are you?”

“No, thank God,” Finn said before he could stop himself, and Poe laughed again.

“You’re a funny guy, Finn,” Poe said. He squeezed Finn’s shoulder and released him. “Well, I gotta give her back to my roommate and catch a flight, but I’ll see you around.” He grinned. “I hope you come as often as I do.”

Finn stared after the guy dumbly as he jogged away, back to a waiting car with a guy sitting in the driver’s seat. The guy seemed to be scolding Poe for something as Poe tucked the dog into the backseat and laughed him off. Rey finally came bounding back, drawing Finn’s attention away.

“Where’d you go?” Rey asked. Finn eventually turned to her, and could see Jessika over Rey’s shoulder, standing by the entrance to the airport with their bags. “Was that a dog?”

“Yeah, that guy’s dog got loose,” Finn told her. Rey craned her neck to look at the guy as he pulled a suitcase out of the trunk of the idling car. She squinted, then whistled.

“Handsome guy,” she said. “Cute dog.” She grabbed the handle of Finn’s suitcase. “Let’s go, you can’t be late on your first flight.”

“Hi, Jessika,” Finn said, once he got close enough to the door to see her. Jess waved at him and turned on her heel, leading them into the airport.

“Big day,” Jess said. “You sure you’re ready for your first flight?”

“I’ve flown before,” Finn reminded her.

“With Empire,” Jess scoffed, in a tone that suggested Empire was an airplane in the same way a child holding his arms out and running down his driveway was. “Welcome to your first  _ real _ flight. You’re gonna love our pilot.” She stopped, then looked at Finn. “You’re not allergic to dogs, are you?”

“No?” he replied. “Why?”

“He’s always covered in dog fur,” she explained, continuing towards the security lines again.

“A guy in the parking lot just asked me that, actually,” Finn said, but Rey and Jessika were already talking to each other about something else. Luckily, security lines weren’t too long this early in the morning. “I’ve never been to San Diego.”

“Oh, you’ll love it,” Jessika said. “It’s warm.”

“It’s got a lot of low buildings,” Rey added.

“The two best traits in any city,” Finn said. The gate had quite a few people lingering around the entryway, trying to be the first in line to get on the plane.

“Dameron here yet?” Jessika asked the receptionist helping a couple read their boarding passes. He shook his head.

“No, not yet,” he told her. “You’re first today.”

“Fuck yeah,” Jessika said, digging her passes and IDs out of her bag. Rey and Finn followed suit. “He owes me dinner.”

“Isn’t the rule that you have to be  _ on _ the plane first?” a somewhat-familiar voice said, and Finn turned to find himself looking into the face of who else but Poe from the parking lot.

“Well, try to beat me on the plane, then, Dameron,” Jessika challenged, swiping her passes and ID up and jogging down the bridge onto the plane. Poe sighed and smiled.

“Good to see you again,” he said, and Finn opened his mouth to respond while Rey beat him to it.

“Haven’t seen you in a bit,” Rey said, handing over her own IDs. Poe shrugged, light-hearted.

“Been doing a little of this,” he said. “A little of that.” He turned to Finn. “Good to see you again, too, Finn.”

“You know each other?” Rey asked, waiting for Finn as he got his own passes and IDs scanned. Poe nodded.

“We just met,” Poe said. “In the parking lot.”

“Ohhh,” Rey said. “I thought you looked familiar.”

“What?” Poe asked, handing over his IDs.

“Finn had been staring at you,” Rey said, heading into the bridge. Finn stared after her, incredulous, then looked back to Poe.

“In a nice way,” Finn offered weakly.

“She’s yanking your chain,” Poe laughed. He took Finn by the elbow and guided him into the bridge. “She was saying you’d be here today, actually. She’s always talking about her best friend Finn. ‘My best friend Finn did this,’ ‘my best friend Finn did that.’” He smiled. “Lots to live up to.”

“Great,” Finn said, faux-cheerfully, and Poe clapped him on the shoulder again.

“Don’t get too distracted, now,” Poe said.

“You, neither,” Finn said. “Don’t, uhh. Crash the plane.”

“Don’t worry,” Poe told him. “I’m a hell of a pilot.”

Finn wanted to melt into his shoes and live there for the rest of the flight, at  _ least.  _ It was bad enough that Rey beckoned forcefully to him then and demanded he help her unwrap the snacks ahead of time so she would have to do less work later.

“You know,” Rey said, sorting through tiny bags of pretzel sticks, “fraternization isn’t allowed on flights, but if you’re off-hours, Alliance doesn’t have any problem with-”

“Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” Finn interrupted her, staring hard at the little water bottles, wondering idly how many of the empty ones were floating in the ocean. It sobered him slightly. “I’ve never fraternized before.”

“Maybe it’s time to try,” Rey suggested. “Poe’s single.”

“A guy dropped him off.”

“Probably his roommate,” Rey told him.

“He said that,” Finn said, “but I didn’t know-”

“Why would he lie,” Rey interrupted loudly, “to a stranger?”

“You  _ have  _ to be more quiet,” Finn hissed. Rey rolled her eyes and secured the cart in the closet.

_ “You  _ have to be more forward,” Rey hissed back. “You’re a romantic guy, Finn. You’re  _ so  _ nice! And Poe- Poe is  _ so nice.  _ You should just-” She smashed her two fists together at the knuckles. “-be nice together.”

“Yeah, let me just climb in the cockpit and be nice with the pilot,” Finn said.

“Not the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Poe’s voice said behind him. Finn shut his eyes, briefly, and wished planes had trap doors, or maybe comically large anvils in the overhead compartments, ready to drop on him. “Maybe give me a little heads-up, though.”

“Three knocks means it’s time to be nice,” Jess said behind  _ him, _ and Finn contemplated slamming his head in the toilet seat. “Remember that.”

“He wants to die,” Rey offered helpfully. Finn finally turned to face Poe, who was grinning away at him.

“I always want to die,” Finn said, without thinking. Poe laughed at him. Or with him. Probably at him.

“Still too much to see, Finn,” Poe told him. “I’m looking forward to working with you. It’ll be fun to be nice together for a change. Jess punches me the whole flight.”

“If you don’t want to get punched, stop making bets with me,” Jessika replied. She vanished back down the aisle towards the cockpit.

“She usually loses the bets,” Poe said, in a stage-whisper. “I let her punch me as a consolation prize.”

“Punching you is the best prize,” Jessika called over her shoulder. Poe smiled.

“With friends like these,” Poe said, “who needs enemies?” He winked at Finn and turned back towards the aisle. “Oh, and Finn-”

“Yeah?” Finn asked, with two tiny water bottles still held in his big hands. Poe hesitated, then said,

“If you do need anything from the cockpit,” he said, “feel free to stop by.”

Poe turned back again and left, standing by the cockpit to wait to greet the first boarders to climb on. Finn stared after him as he knelt down to talk animatedly to a little girl wearing a little pilot’s hat on her head.

“Hey, Finn,” Rey called. “Finish with the pretzels, please, and then we can do our intro and buckle up.”

Finn nodded dumbly and got back to work. Doing their safety song-and-dance was easy; they had practiced it countless times, including in their living room that morning. Rey did an even better job with it when she wasn’t eating from a bowl of cereal at the same time. The flight took off expertly - Poe wasn’t lying, he  _ was  _ a hell of a pilot - and Finn and Rey were kept fairly busy by a group of demanding, annoying middle-aged people going to some retreat in California.

Finn hesitated for the majority of the flight, but about halfway through, Jessika passed by him to use the bathroom and stopped to shove him towards the cockpit. Rey shooed him, telling him he had the fussy man arguing with her under control, and Finn left. Mostly just to stand outside the cockpit door and take deep breaths. Once he got himself under control, he knocked three times, then pushed the door open.

Poe turned around, then grinned when he saw who it was. “Oh, Finn! I was thinking you’d never come up.” He motioned towards himself. “Come in. You can shut the door.”

Finn squeezed himself in and shut the cockpit door behind him. He felt too big for the little space, but looking out through the front of the plane suddenly felt also very small.

“Jess said I should come up here,” Finn said, and Poe smiled.

“Well, you knocked three times,” Poe pointed out. “So, we have to play nice.” Poe looked back out over the sky, the land below them, the mountains and trees dotting the earth. Clouds rushed everywhere past them. “Isn’t it amazing?”

Finn looked with him, then at him, at the hair curling under his pilot’s hat, at the smile lines on his face, at the grin on his mouth, and his hands on the controls.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It is.”

Poe turned to him, still happy. “Never gets old. Familiar, maybe, but I’m never sick of it.” Finn put his hand on the back of Poe’s chair, and Poe seemed content to have him there. “Tell me about yourself, Finn.”

“There isn’t much to tell,” Finn admitted. Poe tsked at him.

“Of course there is,” Poe disagreed. Finn shrugged.

“What do you want to know?” Finn asked, and Poe smiled at him.

Twenty minutes later found Jessika throwing open the cockpit door with a heavy sigh.

“If I  _ wanted _ to be a flight attendant,” she said, “I wouldn’t’ve gone to flight school.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Back to work. Rey needs help with 16C.”

Finn groaned. Poe patted his knee before Finn stood.

“Hang in there, bud,” Poe said. “Not long yet till we land. Then you can keep telling me about your old pilot. She sounds like a nightmare.”

“Not even the half of it,” Finn assured him. His hands trembled a little, but he shoved them in his pockets, aiming for as casual as he could manage. He hoped Poe couldn’t see him sweating, or, God forbid, see how hard and fast his heart was pounding. “See you.”

“Not far to go,” Poe said, grinning. Finn smiled and ducked out of the cockpit to help Rey with the belligerent baby boomer in 16C.

“How was talking with Poe?” Rey asked, peering out the window at the sky. It had gotten somewhat greyer and dark while Finn had been in the cockpit, and seemed like rain might be coming as they flew through more and more clouds.

“Not bad,” Finn said. Rey punched his arm.  _ “Jesus,  _ Rey. He’s a nice guy.”

“A nice guy, a single guy, a  _ handsome _ guy-”

“Tell me about it,” Finn said, then groaned, covering his hands with his face and slumping into one of the attendants’ seats. “He’s so  _ cool.” _

“You’re cool, too,” Rey assured him. Finn glared at her from between his fingers.

“I am not cool,” Finn told her. “Not like  _ that  _ cool. He’s just so-”

Just then, the plane rattled a bit with unexpected turbulence. Then, someone screamed from the center of the plane, pointing out the window to their right at the engine on fire.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Rey said, sprinting to the back of the plane. Finn immediately threw open the cockpit door.

“What the hell was that?” Finn asked. Neither Jessika nor Poe turned back to him, too busy quickly speaking with another and focusing on the controls, but Poe eventually shifted slightly and said,

“Something flew into our engines.” He pressed a button on the headset near his ear and started speaking into that, as well. He turned back to Finn briefly. “Keep everyone calm. We’re going to land, and we’re going to be fine.”

Finn could see Poe didn’t believe that, not fully, but from what he’d seen, and heard - well, if anyone could do it, Poe could.

“Got it,” Finn said, leaving the cockpit and pulling the door shut behind him. The emergency lights in the cabin flickered on, and the oxygen masks fell from the ceiling compartments. Rey was already shouting instructions over the people screaming to one another. While she kept telling people what to do, Finn went to each and every panicking person, squashing his own fear in order to speak calmly and softly with them. He helped each of them into a life vest and secured their oxygen masks before moving onto the next person. Before long, between the two of them, everyone was quiet, speaking amongst one another, some making phone calls - but everyone had on a life vest, a seatbelt, and an oxygen mask, and nobody was screaming anymore. Rey jogged up to the cockpit to talk to Poe and Jessika while Finn secured the bags and carts in the back of the plane and strapped himself in.

Rey wasn’t gone too long, and was soon belting herself in right next to him. “They’re going to try to land.”

“What?” Finn hissed. “We’re over, like - a desert. What are we-”

“They know what they’re doing,” Rey said. She reached out and squeezed Finn’s hand. “We know what we’re doing. It’s going to be fine.”

Finn hesitated, then nodded. He turned his face into Rey’s shoulder and took a long, deep breath.

“Everything is going to be fine,” he said. Rey pressed her cheek against the crown of his head.

Luckily, Poe turned out to be right. The landing was tilted and bumpy, and the right engine was completely blown, but despite the speed they came in at, the desert sand afforded them a lot of space to slide on. Poe immediately leapt out of the plane once it stopped and started working at putting out the flames. Finn jogged out after him and helped; between the two of them, it was controlled by the time emergency services got there, and completely done by the time the nearest airport’s shuttle vans arrived.

Finn and Rey stayed on the ground as everyone crammed themselves in the shuttles, that goddamn group of middle-aged complainers groaning about it the whole time. Poe stopped by, putting a hand on Finn’s shoulder lightly and turning him closer.

“Hey,” he said, in a low voice. Rey pretended she wasn’t listening. “We’re bringing everyone to a hotel in Tucson. Crew got put up in the hotels, too, but they only got two rooms. One for the girls, and one for-”

“Us?” Finn finished. Poe nodded.

“But I understand if you’re uncomfortable-”

“No!” Finn exclaimed. Poe paused, then smiled, just a little. “No, that’s- Uh. That’s fine.”

“Sounds good.” Poe squeezed his shoulder, then looked past him. “Got all that, Rey?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rey replied, helping an older woman step up into the shuttle. Once they were all packed in, the four crew members climbed in, as well, and off they went. The hotel wasn’t too far of a drive from their crash site, all things considered, and once everyone was matched with their luggage and checked in, Finn found himself standing with Rey, Jessika, and Poe, who was apparently caught between making direct eye contact with Finn or staring out the window to their left.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Jessika finally said, breaking the silence, “but I could use a shower.”

“And a nap,” Rey said, yawning.

“It is almost nine in the morning,” Jessika pointed out. Rey frowned at her.

“But we’ve been up since four,” Rey said. Jessika sighed.

“How about,” Poe said, “we shower, and get some rest, and meet up for lunch at one o’clock?” He turned to Finn. “I’ve been here before. Do you like hiking? Rock climbing.”

_ Not really, _ Finn thought.

“Yeah, sure,” Finn said.

“Perfect.” Poe turned to Rey and Jessika. “You up for a hike later?”

“As long as it lasts a  _ very  _ short amount of time and I can see a movie after,” Jessika said. Rey pointed at her and nodded.

“Same,” she said. Poe sighed, exaggerated, and rolled his eyes, but he threw an arm around Jessika’s shoulder as he steered her towards the elevator.

“You’d think I’m shoving bamboo under your nails,” Poe said, laughing. Finn trailed behind as they ribbed one another, Rey at his side. She reached out and squeezed his hand briefly.

“See you at lunch,” she said, when they got to their respective doors. Finn leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before leaving her to her own devices. He followed after Poe into their room and nearly dropped his suitcase when he saw the bed.

The  _ one  _ bed.

“Oh, well,” Poe said, like he could read Finn’s mind. He threw his bag down and fell onto the bed. “You can shower first. I’m beat.”

“You alright?” Finn asked, lightly shutting the hotel room door behind him. Poe turned his head slightly to look up at Finn. “I just mean- Uh. That was- Well. Kind of scary? But, you did a good job.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Poe said. He stretched, popping his joints, then relaxed on his back, folding his arms behind his head. “I mean, it sucks, for sure, but what’re you gonna do? We’re all alright.”

“Thanks to you,” Finn said. Poe smiled. “You really are one hell of a pilot.”

Poe seemed like he wanted to say something, but Finn was already in full panic mode and ducked into the hotel’s bathroom with his suitcase. He sat on the floor for a bit, just to decompress, pushing his face into his palms and taking deep breaths. Once his heart rate was normal again and he had mostly stopped thinking about the airplane, he stripped off his uniform, packed it neatly and tightly into a plastic bag in his suitcase, and slid into the shower.

Coming out of the shower in the pajamas he had in his bag, his skin still warm and damp, running a towel over his head, Finn found Poe fast asleep, his face shoved into a pillow. Stretched out on his stomach and still fully dressed, hair mussed and boots still on - Finn had, somehow, never seen anyone handsomer.

Finn dropped his suitcase by the dresser and shut all the lights off before he bent over Poe’s ankles to untie his boots and slip them off. He hesitated, then did the same with his belt, before he carefully wriggled the blankets out from under Poe and draped them over him. He tugged the blackout curtains shut and, with one last look at Poe in the darkness, climbed onto the very edge of the bed beside him. He tried not to watch him sleep, but it was hard. Finn fell asleep with the image of Poe’s sleeping face burnt onto the back of his eyelids.

* * *

“Hey, buddy,” a familiar voice said, softly. “Hey. You want lunch?”

“Always,” Finn said, shoving his face deeper into his pillow and sighing. It took only a few seconds for his brain to connect, and his head snapped up, nearly colliding with Poe’s. Poe jerked back, laughing. “Oh, geez, sorry, I-”

“No, don’t apologize,” Poe said. He clapped Finn on the back and left his side, apparently to tie his shoes. “Get dressed if you want to go, though. Jess and Rey are nearly knocking down the door.”

“Alright, yeah,” Finn said, rubbing at his face. He hauled himself up and into his normal clothes, hoping it would be good enough for a hike, and helped Poe fill a bunch of water bottles in the bathroom sink.

“We won’t be hiking long,” Poe explained, as he tucked the water bottles into his backpack. “Jess truly hates it. She’s only doing it because Rey is.”

“Makes sense,” Finn said, yawning. “I’m only- Uhh.”

Poe turned to Finn, one eyebrow raised. “Only what?”

“Only… going,” Finn said, slowly, “because I am… excited. To… hike.”

Poe stared at him like he grew a second head. “That’s… great, Finn.” He seemed to hesitate, thinking for a second, before he laughed. “Oh, Finn, Jesus.”

“What-” Finn started to say, before a banging came to the door.

“Let us _ in!” _ Jessika demanded. “Rey is  _ hungry _ and is considering eating us if she doesn’t get something real to eat soon.”

Finn was jittery the whole walk to the restaurant, and all through lunch, and the entire walk to the site Poe wanted to hike at. Just looking at Poe made his hands shaky; he could only think about how handsome he was, how he had looked coming out of the shower while they had waited for him before lunch. How charming he was, how funny, how kind, Jesus  _ Christ,  _ it was impossible to talk with him without getting an aneurysm on the spot.

“Hey, Finn,” Poe asked, falling back a bit on their hike, letting Jess and Rey jog ahead of him. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Finn said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He nearly tripped off-balance immediately. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“You just seem quiet,” Poe explained. “You didn’t seem that quiet this morning. Are you okay, after everything that happened? I understand if-”

“No,” Finn interrupted. “No, I, uhh. Sorry. I just.” Finn glanced up at the girls, then back to Poe. He stopped and slid to the side of the path; Poe followed. “I just get this way. Sometimes. Around…” He motioned broadly to Poe.

“Around me?” Poe asked. “We only just met. Have I said anything that-”

“No!” Finn exclaimed. “No,  _ you _ haven’t done anything. I just…” He sighed, then scratched the back of his head. “I get…  _ nervous.” _

“Oh?” Poe asked, frowning. He looked Finn over, then said, with a look of dawning realization,  _ “Oh.” _

“If you-”

“No, no, no,” Poe interrupted hurriedly. “I don’t- I also- Yes.” He turned around. “Hey, Jess!”

“What?” Jessika called back. Her and Rey stopped up a bit along the trail.

“Find your own way back to the hotel!” he told her. “I’m taking Finn to Kitt Peak!”

Jessika laughed. “Sounds perfect!”

Rey hugged Finn quickly, tightly, before heading back down the path with Jessika. Once they were gone, Poe turned to Finn, grinning as widely as he had when they had first met. Somehow, that had only been that morning.

“You’re going to love Kitt Peak,” Poe said, leading Finn down a separate way, back towards the visitors’ center of the site. “It’s going to be dark soon, then it’ll be  _ perfect.” _

Finn followed Poe to a Lyft, to the observatory, and up into the top of the building. As night fell, Poe showed him the stars. They stretched forever above and around then, an endless galaxy of sparkling, twinkling white stars. Heavenly bodies, dotting like bright pinholes in a stretch of velvet, swirled with red and orange nebulas, stretched with faraway purple-blue systems. Poe breathed out, staring around them, and Finn, with all the strength and boldness he had in him, reached out and took his hand. Poe squeezed his fingers; he squeezed back.

Poe took him outside, to look up at the stellar sky as they laid side-by-side in the grass. Poe was silent, for a time, before he started talking. First, he asked Finn questions, about his life. Then, he started sharing stories of his own. He kept up their conversation all the way to the diner he took them to for dinner, then back to the hotel, where Poe stopped Finn with a hand around his, pulling him to a halt.

“Hey,” Poe said. Finn could see the galaxies Poe had showed him that night in his face, those stars in his eyes. “Hey, Finn.”

“Hi,” Finn said softly. Poe slid his hand up to Finn’s wrist and tugged him closer, then settled his palm on Finn’s cheek, pulling him in to kiss, lightly. Finn felt his hands go numb almost instantly, his heart pounding in his chest, up through his throat, and he responded on instinct, taking Poe by the hips and pulling him in tight.

“Sorry if I-”

“Nope,” Finn interrupted, kissing him again. He took Poe’s face in his hands, dragging him closer, and Poe immediately turned the tables, pushing Finn up against the door and kissing the breath out of him. When he pulled back, Finn exhaled harshly, catching his breath, and Poe grinned, wild, pleased, happy.

“Is this allowed?” Finn asked, breathless. Poe smiled.

“We’re off-hours,” Poe said. “We only can’t fraternize on the job.” He leaned in and kissed Finn again. “I guess I don’t have to invite you in, since we’re sharing a hotel room.”

Finn raised his eyebrows while Poe kissed him again. He pulled back, and Finn chased after him. Poe laughed and dug his key card from his pocket, beeping them back into the hotel room. He walked him backwards to the bed and fell over him, kneeling at his waist. He ran his hands over Finn’s chest, over his tight shirt, from throat to hips. Finn hesitated, then reached up, running his own hands down from Poe’s shoulders down to his waist, holding him tightly there.

“You are so fucking good-looking,” Poe told him, leaning down to kiss him again. Finn wound his fingers up in Poe’s hair, holding him close. They stayed there forever, it seemed to Finn, kissing deep, deeper, until Poe pulled back and softly said, “We have an early morning.”

“Fuck early mornings,” Finn said. Poe laughed.

“Save it,” Poe murmured against Finn’s mouth. “We have so many more days.”

Without meaning to, Finn automatically thought back to that brief moment where he thought the plane might really go down, that he might really die, with Rey’s hand clutched tightly in his and nobody much at all to miss him.

“Do we?” Finn asked, almost involuntarily. Poe framed Finn’s face with his hand and kissed him, softly.

“We do,” Poe told him. “We do. Tonight’s not our only night. I promise.”

Finn smiled, and Poe grinned back, burying his face in Finn’s neck. He fell asleep wrapped around Finn’s side, his face still tucked in there, his legs tangled with Finn’s, his one hand strewn across Finn’s chest. Finn held him there, arms wrapped around him, and considered the difference between the night before and that night.

* * *

“Hey,” Poe whispered, close to Finn’s ear. He lightly kissed Finn’s ear, then his cheek, then a hand on Finn’s face turned him to the side for Poe to kiss his lips. “Time to fly the friendly skies.”

Finn wrinkled his nose, then opened one eye, peering closely at Poe. “Who says?”

“Alliance,” Poe told him. “They just called. It’s time to go.”

Poe showered first, emerging not too long after his wet hair pushed back from his face, a towel around his waist, and Finn couldn’t help but stare until Poe kissed him into distraction, then pushed him into the bathroom and shut the door. They met Jessika and Rey in the lobby an hour later. Rey took one look at him and snorted behind her hand.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Jessika said. Poe raised a hand.

“We’re on the clock now, Pava,” Poe said. He motioned towards the gathering group of passengers by the lobby doors. “Help me get them in the vans.”

Poe barely touched Finn all the way to the airport, even as they loaded up their bags and walked only with Rey and Jessika to the gate. Finn helped Rey set up all over again, as they prepared for the new short flight to San Diego from Tucson. Finn didn’t dare take any time from such a short flight to go sit with Poe, but once they landed in Tucson, they had to get on another flight to go right back to Boston, and he could take the time on that one to go up and knock three times on the door.

“Play nice,” Jessika said, ducking out to go steal a packet of candy granola from Rey. Finn lightly shut the door behind him and sat beside Poe.

“Hi,” Poe said, beginning to say something else.

“Did I do something?” Finn blurted out, immediately shutting his mouth and frowning. Poe turned to him, a furrow between his brows. “Because if I did, you should probably just tell me, because then I can just leave you alone and-”

“Whoah, whoah, Finn, buddy, what’s up?” Poe said. “You didn’t do a damn thing. What’s up?”

“You just weren’t really talking to me,” Finn pointed out. “What’s, uhh… Why?”

“Finn, we’re working,” Poe reminded him. “If I open that gate even an inch, it’s opening  _ all  _ the way.” He looked Finn up, then down, then up again. “Finn, I can  _ not  _ control what comes through that gate once it’s opened today.”

Finn felt his face grow hot, and briefly felt the phantom weight of Poe on his hips, his hands on his shoulders, his mouth on his.

“You know what I mean?” Poe asked. Finn nodded jerkily.

“I, uhh…” Finn scratched at the back of his head. “Yeah. Same.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Poe joked. “Someone like you? God  _ damn.  _ I’m a lucky guy.”

Finn laughed, startled. “Someone like me? Someone like  _ you.  _ Poe,  _ I’m  _ the lucky-”

“Shh,” Poe said, reaching out to touch Finn’s lips. He pushed his thumb into Finn’s lower lip, and Finn grinned around his hand. “Heaven-sent.” He pulled back. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot. That’s off-hours.”

Finn nodded, then resisted the urge to lean in and kiss Poe. He stood instead and left the cockpit, sending Jessika back in and letting Rey slap him on the chest a few times.

“You’re doing it!” Rey hissed. “I can’t believe- If I had  _ known,  _ I would have introduced you to Poe  _ weeks  _ ago.”

“It’s nothing yet,” Finn told her, even though his chest told him it was  _ everything.  _ In his mind’s eye, he could still see Poe, backlit by the entirety of space, and his heart jumped. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Rey looked him up and down, critically. “Look at you,” she said. “You’re  _ so  _ far ahead of yourself. What kind of ring do you want to get him, kid?”

“Shut the  _ fuck-”  _ Finn started to say, before glancing over his shoulder at the passengers. “I don’t- Oh, boy, I just… I l… I like him. A  _ lot.  _ I want him. Will he still want me when we get home? Is this even allowed? Can I do this? Can  _ he?  _ Is he my boss? Who  _ is  _ my boss? What am I  _ doing?  _ What do I-”

“Finn, shh, chill out,” Rey interrupted him. “Poe is not your boss. He will still want you when we get home, and for the foreseeable future. This is allowed. You can do this.  _ He  _ can do this. You’re doing what you want to do, what’s best for  _ you.”  _ She put her hands on Finn’s shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. Finn felt lucky to even know her. “You can do this.”

“I can do this,” Finn said. Rey hugged him, then went back to work, pulling Finn to follow suit. The flight seemed to drag when Finn wasn’t able to go up and talk to Poe, but also flew by knowing Poe was even there. Finn itched as they landed, and collected their baggage, and headed out through security back to the front doors. The second Finn walked through the front doors, Poe took his wrist and pulled him back, tugging him against his chest.

“It’s off-hours,” Poe told him, smiling. He kissed him, lightly, then deeper, and deeper still. Rey whistled. Jessika sighed heavily, dramatically, but still was smiling when Finn pulled away to look at her. Finn turned back to Poe, who was grinning like he had just seen the sun for the first time.

“Wanna do that again sometime?” Finn asked. Poe kissed him lightly.

“Maybe not  _ all  _ of that,” Poe answered. “But, yeah. Yeah, I’d love to.”

Finn smiled and kissed him again, and again, and again. Poe pulled back and knocked three times on Finn’s shoulder, lightly.

“Play nice,” Poe said, smiling.

“For you?” Finn asked. “Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have a blog now to request imagines - I just like to make people happy. Submit requests [here!](https://imagine-in-the-fandoms.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> I also actually wrote a book. It was a long road but, I did it! Ta-da It's about two young ladies who hunt aliens and fall in love. If you want to read it, shoot me a message!
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter at [@nicoIodeon](https://twitter.com/nicoIodeon) or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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